Industrial Revolution And Artisan Republicanism

After the American Revolution, Americans were fixated on a Republican ideology of not only being politically independent but financially independent as well. This meant working for oneself to create a product to then sell for profit. In support of this ideology, another was born named Artisan Republicanism. The idea of an Artisan Republic was one that distinguished small producers who owned their own businesses, thus making them “independent”. These artisans were not dependent on employers or wages. Then further along comes the Industrial Revolution, which threaten skilled labor and the notion of an “Artisan Republic”. The Industrial Revolution not only changed early American ideologies but working and living conditions, urbanization, public health, life expectancy, and the emergence of a middle class. Americans resisted the development of new working processes with strikes and labor unions such as the National Trade Union, however the changing organization of work and growing number of wage earners challenged the idea of a republic of property owners. To put the industrial revolution in simplest terms, it was …show more content…
Artisans ran shops at their homes, however growing demand were moving manufactures from households to factories. Workshops grew in size and tasks were subdivided into less skilled segments of work. “The time spent in a factory,” explained a Massachusetts observer “will produce ten times as much as it will in household manufactures” (Clark, 2008, p. 348). Not too long after even newer working systems took place, further subdividing tasks making it easier to replace skilled journeymen with less trained workers. Dividing tasks and reducing skill only made it more difficult for journeymen or apprentices to become masters. Deprived of independent means, these artisans became employees, thus becoming economically